Carla Morrison’s “El Renacimiento” Album and Mental Health

There’s this collective perception that the pandemic has birthed the age of company — what’s sometimes called “The Nice Awakening.” Whilst we enter the almost-post-COVID period, many people have felt impressed to look inside to nurture our psychological, emotional, and religious wants.

For singer-songwriter Carla Morrison, born Carla Patricia Morrison Flores, the previous few years have compelled her to discover who she is and what she’s meant to do on this life. The Mexican-American artist has already loved a profitable profession — boasting three Latin Grammy Awards and two Grammy nominations for her first two full-length albums, “Déjenme Llorar,” launched in 2012, and “Amor Supremo,” launched in 2015 — and have become identified for her Soprano vocals and mesmerizing songs about love and heartbreak. However whereas Morrison’s songs have been capturing our hearts and touching our souls, the singer felt misplaced. She was anxious, depressed, and not sure if she wished to proceed creating music.

After a decade of constructing a thriving musical profession, Morrison dropped her Mexican administration firm after her 2017 tour and determined to take an extended and much-needed sabbatical for psychological well being causes. She relocated from Mexico to Paris along with her now-husband and coproducer Alejandro Jiménez in 2019, unclear about what the longer term held. She was already struggling along with her psychological well being and not sure if she wished to proceed with the music, and issues obtained even tougher after she misplaced her father to COVID-19 in 2021. The bouts of melancholy led her down a street of self-discovery that impressed her newest album, “El Renacimiento,” launched in April 2022. It’s presently nominated for the Latin Grammys Finest Pop Vocal album, and one of many album’s largest singles, “Encontrarme,” is nominated for Track of the Yr. “El Renacimiento” shouldn’t be solely the primary full album the artist has launched in 5 years but additionally one in all her most susceptible tasks but.

“Earlier than I set the purpose of writing the album, I used to be actually hesitant about coming again to music throughout my hiatus. I did not know if I had the psychological well being instruments to confront every thing that comes with being on this enterprise, being an impartial artist, and publicly sharing my very own feelings by my music. I assumed I wanted time,” the artist shares with POPSUGAR through an electronic mail interview. “As soon as the pandemic hit, I used to be confronted with the query if I’d even be capable of do that once more in my life — if I’d truly let it go. However no, I wished to make music. Music gave me goal.” The 36-year-old shares how she rapidly realized that music is how she connects with individuals.

As soon as she overcame the considered by no means returning to music and realigning along with her goal, Morrison was capable of beginning the brand new album — “El Renacimiento” (which interprets to rebirth or renaissance in Spanish) because the working title and idea.

“As all of us collectively skilled the pandemic, it grew to become crystal clear that I wished to name it ‘El Renacimiento,'” she provides. “I wished the songs to make sense of my journey. Now, anybody on the planet going by one thing comparable can take heed to the album and perhaps relate.”

The album addresses psychological well being, grief, rebirth, and the enjoyment we will expertise as soon as we push by life’s hardest classes. The themes of restoration and coming again to herself are prevalent within the album’s tearjerker single, “Encontrarme,” with lyrics like, “Ya no quiero seguir/Dejé de Sonreir/Entre todo perdí/Toda razón para vivir/Quiero Volver a mi/La persona que fui.” That interprets to, “I do not need to proceed on/I’ve stopped smiling and in all of it I misplaced/All purpose to reside/I need to return to me/the particular person I used to be.”

Some of the highly effective tracks on the album is “Ansiedad,” which interprets to nervousness in Spanish. With this track, Morrison wished to depict what a panic assault is basically like. She sings uncooked and highly effective lyrics like, “Quiero hablar y no puedo/Respirar y no puedo/Caminar, olivar, enfrentarlo y no puedo,” translating to “I need to discuss however I can not. Breathe however I can not. Stroll, overlook, confront however I can not.”

Morrison says that her nervousness “has at all times been there,” and that it has been part of her since she was 9. “My complete life has been a journey of self-discovery as a result of I’ve at all times seemed all over the place for assist. I attended remedy classes. Reiki classes, therapeutic classes, ketamine infusion classes — so many locations,” she says. “My music has at all times targeted on love and heartbreak. Typically I’d contact on private struggles or emotions of loneliness. However I had by no means addressed my relationships to psychological well being.” The artist shares how confronting her psychological well being grew to become a brand new and large chapter in her life that started after she turned 30. “At 30, my very own life disaster made me query every thing,” she provides. “I spotted I needed to take a stand for myself and actually combat for that with the intention to start feeling higher.”

For Morrison, placing out this album was her means of supporting her neighborhood of Latinxs who really feel alone in relation to psychological well being points. In accordance with the Pew Analysis Heart, Latinx communities are simply as susceptible to psychological well being points as their non-Latinx counterparts, however face disparities in relation to entry and high quality of remedy. Morrison’s intention was to place out an album that makes listeners really feel seen and validated of their struggles.

“Within the US, we’ve got been speaking extra about psychological well being inside our communities in Mexico and Latin America. Nonetheless, many people nonetheless reside or have shut contact with our households,” Morrison says. “Older generations didn’t prioritize psychological well being. They have been by no means taught to concentrate to that a part of their being. Consequently, they reduce these sorts of struggles.”

Morrison provides that she believes that folks are actually “extra inclined to have open discussions about psychological well being.” Nonetheless, she says, “there may be plenty of judgment and discuss of being loco/loca,” with older-generation Latinxs nonetheless associating psychological well being points or having to see a therapist with being “loopy.”

Remedy and holistic modalities — together with creating music — actually helped the singer get by one of many hardest durations of her life. However it took feeling like she hit all-time low to comprehend how therapeutic music is for her, she says. Rediscovering herself on this means hasn’t simply introduced Morrison nearer to her to music; it is also modified her music. And it is clearly resonating: followers have lauded the brand new sound that landed her with two Latin Grammy nominations this yr.

“Since there’s a lot new music proper now, I used to be under no circumstances anticipating to be nominated,” she shares. “I feel ‘Encontrarme’ is without doubt one of the greatest songs I’ve written in a very long time, and I am very pleased with the album . . . However I feel what makes me completely satisfied is the folks that really feel seen from it. That is what’s actually vital to me. After all, being nominated and having the Grammys make me and my music really feel so particular.”

In selecting herself, Morrison has additionally discovered herself. She’s made dietary modifications towards her bodily well being, like lowering her sugar consumption. She nurtures her psychological well being and takes CBD dietary supplements to assist with sleep or typically cope along with her melancholy, nervousness, or overwhelming feelings. She works out repeatedly, practices yoga, and makes time for meditation. She goes on good lengthy walks in Los Angeles, the place she presently resides and leans into her help system of household and pals, and prioritizes creativity. As we speak, she feels peace, pleasure, and great gratitude for all of it. One factor she’s clear on is that music will at all times be within the image.

“My music has been my accomplice,” she says. “I’ll at all times be pleased about the creation of music and its existence [and] the best way it selected me to do that model of music with my voice.”